Broken Promises and Past Regrets
by 20 pounds of crazy
Summary: The team gets a client from Parker's past. Includes flashbacks of Parker's history before the team. A lot of Eliot/Parker friendship. Rated T to be safe. Chapter 4 up review!
1. Chapter 1

**Broken Promises and Past Regrets**

**A/N: As you can tell from my author name, I love Parker. I **_**had **_**to take a shot at writing about her past. I really like this story so far, so hopefully everyone does too!**

**Pairings: I like to stick with the show's pairings (call me old-fashioned), so almost-but-not-quiteNate/Sophie, preHardison/Parker, and Eliot/Parker friendship (not really in the show, but its awesome). Probably A LOT of Eliot/Parker friendship, and if you like that couple I guess you could see it as preslash (if you try really hard).**

"_Hi, I'm Susan. What's your name?" The broken girl didn't know how to respond- or if she should- to the young girl's question. She was still deciding when Susan spoke again, "You do have a name right? I've met some kids that have a bunch of names, some have one, but I've never heard of a girl without one." The girl named Susan seemed to never stop talking. She was happy and social, despite being in foster care. This made the shy blonde girl relax a little; maybe this home wouldn't be as bad as the others._

The clock said 4:30 AM. Parker couldn't sleep. She usually could for about 6 hours before the nightmares kicked in, but this night was different. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't forget her childhood memories. They never leave her; sometimes she can push them to the back of her mind but usually they creep up on her at unsuspecting moments.

She got up, stretched, and took a shower. 4:45 AM. She sighed. She had five hours before she had to be at the offices, with nothing to do.

Maybe Eliot was up? He only sleeps 90 minutes a night. She suspects for the same reason why she doesn't sleep much- possibly worse- but doesn't want to ask. Some things were best unspoken; it didn't take Sophie's lessons for her to understand that.

Parker wanted to visit him, but the last time she did he was less than happy to see her. He had had a run in with the mob and was icing a few joints when she barged in, scared the hell out of him, and demanded cookies.

Maybe Hardison was up playing video games? She would visit him, but video games were boring and if he wasn't doing that then he would be on the computer- also boring- or sleeping.

Sophie was definitely sleeping. She was a heavy sleeper, Parker learned, from one night when she broke into her "flat" (as Sophie calls it) and the sleeping body didn't move a muscle. But she had a rather large flat screen that Parker could turn up fairly loudly without getting caught, so it worked out.

Nate? His apartment was all of their homes away from home. They visited at random hours, despite his annoyance and whining about it.

It was settled. After a quick jump off her apartment (one of many) building, she would head over and maybe watch some cartoons. She had been dying to try out her latest contraption, and it was a perfect night.

She dressed in her usual black attire, jumped up through the air duct (she never took the stairs) and made her way up to the top floor through the elevator shaft. It only took about 3 minutes to set up the rig and she jumped without hesitation, screaming at the top of her lungs. These were the moments that she didn't think of the memories- she only forgot when she was doing something stupid/dangerous.

She got to the bottom, unhooked herself, and hid the device in a nearby alley. Earlier Parker had spotted a Mercedes a block away that she wanted to take a crack at (ever since the car job she has been stealing cars as well- she forgot how fun it was!). It only took 45 seconds and she headed over, leaving the car a fair distance away. She grabbed her handy dandy lock pick and got inside in record time- who used a door nowadays?

Nate was upstairs, snoring rather loudly. Who she didn't expect to see was Eliot. "What are you doing here?" he asked, relaxing from the battle pose he took when hearing the door being picked.

"Couldn't sleep," she said, and Eliot knew it was her nightmares again. He could just tell from the way she spoke- they _had _after all been a team for over 2 years. "You?"

"I already slept. I got bored," he said. "Try to sleep here." He patted the couch he was sitting on. "We have a long day today."

Parker jumped on the couch and Eliot threw a blanket over her. It was easier to sleep at Nate's than at her house. It felt safer. She usually didn't sleep in front of people (a habit she picked up from the system) but she deemed Eliot OK enough to let her guard down a little. He appreciated it, knowing how hard it is sometimes to trust people.

Once her head hit the pillow she closed her eyes, bringing up the memories.

"_I'll introduce you to some people," Susan said, taking the little girl by the hand. She led her to a room with three boys. "That's Michael, Jason, and Ricky. This is their room; they don't let girls in," she made a face. Susan then introduced her to the two other girls Carol and Nicole. The little girl sighed; she didn't like big families; that usually meant dirt poor parents wanting money from the government that they obviously didn't spend on the kids._

_The parents hadn't bothered showing her around, which also wasn't a good sign. The house was very small and broken down, and only had two small, dirty bathrooms. The "dad", Chris, was drinking his fourth beer in front of a small TV and the "mom", Michele, left to go shopping or something. _

"_I need to tell you something," Susan said. "We're sisters now, and sisters help each other out. Don't go by Chris when he gets mad or drinks a lot. He hurts people, but mostly the boys. He's only hit me twice. He probably won't hit you for a while though," she said this as if it were OK. It wasn't, but no one could do anything about it. Foster care was a broken system._

Eliot rubbed her arm, sensing that she was tense. It made her relax a little more. He was watching TV with the sound off; it was some sports game that Parker couldn't really remember. "Who's winning," she asked groggily.

"France. Go to sleep," he said.

"_You _go to sleep."

"I already did. Normal people need more hours than I do."

Parker smiled. "I thought you said I wasn't normal."

He thought for a moment. "And I completely agree with that statement. I guess I meant semi-normal people. Parker, go to bed."

She sighed. "Fiiiine" she whined. She closed her eyes again.

_She heard a crash; that's what woke her up in the middle of the night. It also woke up Susan. "It's ok," she said. "He's just mad that his team lost. Just don't make any noise."_

_The little girl obeyed. He kicked their door in and the two other girls whimpered. He threw something across the room and it hit Susan on the head. She started bleeding. The little girl kicked Chris in a weak spot, grabbed Susan, and they ran outside. They ran until they didn't hear Chris' yells. _

_They were at a park. "How'd you know I come here?" Susan asked._

"_I didn't," the girl said. "Parks are usually a safe place."_

_Susan smiled. "We should give you a name. Parker fits, I think."_

_She made a face. "That's a last name. And a boy name."_

"_It's a good name! I like it. It's perfect!"_

"_OK, Parker it is then."_

A few hours into her light sleep she heard people whispering around her. She didn't want to wake up, but had to make sure she was OK. She opened her eyes into slits (the light was too bright) and saw Sophie and Hardison standing over her.

"Dammit Hardison," Sophie said, failing to utter Eliot's famous line as well as the hitter does. "I told you not to talk so loudly!"

"Me? You were the one who was slamming crap all over the place. You even cracked Nate's favorite coffee mug, the one he uses for "coffee"" Hardison put bunny ears around the last word "even though we all know its whiskey. He's gon' kill you."

"He actually likes me," Sophie countered.

"How about you both shut up?" Eliot asked. He placed a huge tray of yummy food in front of Parker. Pancakes, waffles (which Parker thought was a little redundant but whatever), a banana, an apple, two leftover fortune cookies, and her favorite- cereal!

"Mmm," she sighed, content. Hardison stared at her jealously.

"Man, why can't you make _me _food? That's unfair. Sophie, he's picking favorites!"

"What am I, your mother?" Sophie said under her breath. "I. Don't. Care."

"You woke her up. And you're annoying. If that's not two good enough reasons for you, I'll show you another," Eliot said cracking his fists. Hardison shut up, muttering something about a bully and headed off to his laptop.

"Thanks Eliot," Parker said, digging into the food. She's never had someone cook just for her- it felt nice.

"No problem," he said, smiling.

She was still tired; she slept better with Bunny. Parker usually remembered to bring him to Nate's and hide him when the others got there, but she forgot.

"_What am I supposed to do now?" newly named Parker asked. "He's probably going to kill me."_

"_No, don't worry," Susan said. "He doesn't remember any of it the next day. Don't bring it up, you'll be fine."_

_Luckily she was right. The only evidence of the previous was Chris' hangover. No one spoke a word of it, and Parker realized that was how they all coped with it._

_Parker and Susan spent most nights at the park. Chris' tirades got worse as he drank more (now that he got another check from the government, he could buy a few more packs of beers per week) and all of Parker's "family members" found a way to deal. The two girls, now best friends, slept under the racing slides._

"_Parker," Susan said one night as they were getting ready to sleep, "I want to give you something. It's not much, but you didn't have a lot in your bag when you came here," she handed Parker a stuffed rabbit. Its ear was almost torn off, as well as one of its eyes. "This is Bunny. He's been my best friend since I was put in foster care. He's great. You'll love him."_

"_I can't take that," Parker said. She knew how important items could be to a person; she had a few of her own that she lost a while ago and missed every day._

"_Yes, you can," she urged. "He's a great friend. I want him to be yours."_

"_He'll be ours," Parker retaliated. Susan smiled._

"Where's Nate?" Sophie asked.

"I. Don't. Care," Hardison retorted. Sophie stared at him evilly for a moment before running up the stairs to wake up the lazy/drunk thief (or whatever he was going by now; she lost track a while ago).

Parker had gotten up and headed to the kitchen area to get more cereal. Eliot was astounded at how much the girl could eat. He and Hardison plopped on the couch while the geek was putting finishing touches on the briefings for today.

Nate came downstairs, still in pajamas. He stopped walking like a slob when he noticed his company. "Uh, what are you all doing here?"

"Uh, it's Thursday. We have a client," Eliot answered. Everyone understood he was hungover and probably thought it was Saturday.

"Thursday? I've _got _to stop drinking that damn bourbon," Nate said, noting the two empty bottles on the counter.

"Anyways," Hardison said after a slightly awkward pause. "Our case is about two people who got caught up with a loan shark/conman."

"I hate those cases," Sophie complained. "It's always about two happily married people looking to start a family, trusting a man with their money, and them getting robbed. It's depressing."

"Actually, these two aren't married," Hardison said. "Their names are Susan and Jason Stapleton. They're foster siblings."

Parker froze.


	2. Chapter 2

**I tried to add humor, but this isn't a humorous story so it didn't really work. WOW I'm really surprised at the reviews, I didn't think so many people would like it! Please keep reviewing, and I'd be glad to hear any ideas or comments (sorry, though- it's not going to be Eliot/Parker) Oh and I managed to somewhat tie in one of my other stories (the Bike Accident), but it's not exactly the same. Thanks everyone! **

Parker choked on her cereal. Eliot noticed how tense she got. Sophie got her a glass of water when the coughing wouldn't stop, but she didn't take it. She was looking at the picture on the screen. It was Susan and Jason all grown up. They were smiling and laughing at the camera. She noticed a ring on her finger and her eyes grew even wider. She got married?

A wave of emotions hit her. Sadness. Anger. Regret. Jealousy.

She didn't know if she should be happy that Susan was still alive or upset that they've been separated all these years.

"Parker, are you OK?" Sophie asked, concerned. She patted Parker's back, who was still coughing.

Parker nodded and the coughs went away soon after. "Fine," she mumbled weakly.

Eliot hadn't taken his eyes off of her. "You know them," he stated. It wasn't a question, but Parker nodded anyways.

Everyone was extremely curious, but before they could fire off questions she bolted out of her seat and ran out the door.

"That was weird," Hardison said. They all nodded their agreement.

"_Please, Susan," Parker begged. "This is the third time this week. Please, let's tell someone. It's worked for me before."_

"_Yeah, cause this is such a better place than your last homes," she said sarcastically. She didn't mean to be rude, but getting hurt every day ending in 'y' was wearing her down. "This actually is a better place for me. I know it was bad for you before, but there are much worse things than physical abuse," Susan said, shuddering at the thought of her last home. "This is manageable."_

_Parker's arm was dangling limply at her side. She clutched it in pain. "Another trip to the hospital," she said, and Susan nodded._

"_We have to go to the free clinic," Susan said. "The doctors at the other place are getting suspicious."_

_Parker sighed. "That's over a mile away."_

"_Then let's get going."_

"I'll go after her," Sophie said.

"No, I will," Eliot said. He didn't know what to say, but knew what she was going through. Sophie nodded at him and he got up. He knew exactly where she was going.

Up on the roof, Parker sat, legs dangling over the side of the building. She was thinking about Susan, imagining how great her life was. She probably had kids and a real family, thought Parker, and is a _good _mother. Thinking of Susan brought up the memories- clearer and more detailed than ever. Susan was always protective of her; she was Parker's only friend. Parker thought about how she even got into stealing, despite how her older sister/best friend disproved of it.

"_Whadcha get this time, Parker?" Michael asked excitedly. He was bouncing up and down. She showed him three wallets, a yo-yo, half of a pack of gum, and an electronic game. "Yes! This is awesome!" He grabbed the yo-yo and the game and ran off under the big slide, his 'room'. _

_Susan was frowning at her, but Parker was oblivious. "Parker," she started, "Stealing is wrong. It says so in the bible."_

"_What's a bible?" asked Parker._

_Susan was about to ask how she never heard of the bible, but realized that she grew up alone and in the system. After all, Susan only heard about it because one of her previous parents was a church-goer. She didn't know how to answer the question, either. "Uh, I don't know. It's like a book that everyone follows and it gives you rules that tell what's right and wrong."_

_Parker frowned. "Sounds like a boring book."_

_She was getting frustrated. "Whatever. I'm the oldest, just listen to me. Promise me that you won't steal."_

_Parker hesitated a moment, then agreed reluctantly. "Fine. I promise," she sighed._

_Her fingers were crossed._

Deep in thought, she didn't notice the door opening behind her. Eliot walked to the ledge and sat down right next to her. Parker put her head on his shoulder and they stayed like that for a while. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and got up. "I don't want to talk about it, OK?"

"I understand," Eliot said. "But I'm here if you ever do."

They walked back to the offices. Parker pretended like her outburst never happened, and the team didn't bring it up. They were still in their spots on the couch, except Hardison had laid down where Eliot and Parker usually sat. He got up as soon as he saw Eliot's glare. "Just keeping it warm for y'all," he joked.

"Hardison, run- well, finish running it," Nate corrected himself.

"OK, so as I was saying, Susan and Jason Stapleton," he briefly paused to make sure there were no more random outbursts, "they were in the foster system, Susan for 15 years and Jason for 8 years. Their similar parents were Chris and Michele Bratton. They were flagged quite a few times for…" he paused. "Um… Abuse and maltreatment." They all looked at Parker, who continued to stare obliviously at the picture on the screen. "And, um, after their house exploded- couldn't figure out why or how- they separated when Susan was 16 and Jason was 14 and have stayed in touch since. They just bought a house, and the guy they borrowed money from is forcing them to pay him back plus a twenty percent interest… I'm not a mathematician or anything, but I'm thinking that's a lot. And he's demanding it by the end of the month or he's taking the house and all that's left in their bank accounts. Along with that, Susan has some long-lasting damage from foster care. From what I can tell by the records it's with the Brattons."

"Why is both their last names Stapleton if neither of them had any parents named that?" Sophie asked.

"Susan makes people names," Parker mumbled, her knees pulled up to her chest.

Hardison pointed at Parker and then at the picture of Susan, "your name-?"

Parker was about to nod before Eliot cut him off. "Back to the relevant stuff," he said. "So what's the plan? Whose heads do I have to bash in this time?"

"Hm…" Nate contemplated. "I'm thinking the San Antonio Split."

"No way," Sophie said, shaking her head. "The Happy Couple."

"Please," Hardison complained. "We all know you two make up these random names. They aren't even real _cons!_"

"Can we do the Fiddle one?" Parker asked after raising her hand. "And can Eliot be the fiddle?"

Eliot stared at her quizzically. He would never completely understand her.

"No," Nate said. Then, simultaneously he and Sophie got stupid grins on their faces and said "the Banana Split."

"What the hell," Hardison said. "It's not a real con. This is seriously getting old. Wipe those damn grins off your faces, we didn't accomplish anything."

Ignoring him, Nate uttered his famous line: "Let's go steal a loan shark" and walked out the door. Sophie followed.

Eventually, Hardison got up too. "We already did a con like this," he mumbled, then walked out of the room.

Eliot and Parker were left. There was an awkward silence, so Eliot was about to leave when Parker spoke up.

"Susan was my best friend. I should have gotten her out of there. I just couldn't-" she stopped mid-sentence, trying so hard not to cry.

He hugged her, burying her head into his shoulder. "I understand."

"No, you don't. I did a really bad thing."

Eliot knew that Parker admitting she did a bad thing must have meant that it was a _really _bad thing. Most of the time he seriously doubted whether she had a sense of right and wrong. Or up and down, for that matter.

"Like I said, the offer still stands," he said. She nodded, untangled herself from him, and left.

_She didn't steal just because it was fun; she stole so she could buy Susan, Jason, and Michael (the only three she talked to) food and clothes. Later, she realized she could just steal those items as well, so she had a huge amount of money on her hands._

_The money she got from stealing added up to a lot. At the time, she didn't have an obsession with money, so she didn't know what to do with it. She decided to take Michael to the toy store and let him buy anything he wanted. He picked a bike he'd been eyeing for a while. It was red with racer stripes down the side. He was ecstatic._

_They walked home together, Michael pushing the bike. Parker felt bad, so she said he could go down the hill. His eyes grew wide. "The really big one? That's for big kids, though."_

_She laughed. "You're old enough, definitely. Kids like us grow up a lot earlier than others."_

"_Who told you that?" he asked._

_She shrugged. "I've heard it around the park. The kids don't play with us cause their moms tell them not too. They think we're different."_

"_Because we sleep there," Michael finished. He was a quick learner, Parker noticed. Without another word he hopped on his bike and pedaled fast for the hill. There was no side walk so he made sure no cars were coming before he zoomed down._

_Parker saw it happen, but couldn't do anything about it. The bike brakes weren't working, and a car was speeding straight ahead. The driver never saw it. Michael died with the impact._

_It destroyed her._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I've gotten most of the depressing stuff out! Yay! Now it will be happier (well, as happy as it can be). This is sort of what I was planning, but I didn't expect the first chapters to be as depressing lol. Thanks for the great reviews! They're motivating me to write faster **** This is a very short chapter, cause it's a good cliffhanger I think, but the others will be longer.**

Parker had no idea how she was going to do this. She and the team were going to one of her hometowns… Together. She never thought that she would be in such an awkward position. It never crossed her mind that she would have to share her past with people, let alone people that cared for her. It was weird.

They had packed their belongings into Nate's car. They decided against taking Hardison's van because they were going to a very small town and it would probably notify people they were there. Also, loan sharks deal with cash, not wireless banking systems.

Hardison was upset, to put it lightly. He had grown to love his new van, even as far as making a list of possible names. That van was probably his favorite part of the cons they did.

Not to mention they all had to cram into a small car. Nate drove and Sophie called shotgun (Eliot was surprised she even knew what that was), leaving Parker, Hardison, and Eliot in the back. Neither claimed they wanted to sit next to Parker (they could all tell she was tense… and she had recently eaten two bags of m&m's). Hardison announced that she should sit in the middle, to "split the crazy up". Eliot figured Hardison wanted to sit next to her, especially because he was still crazy about her.

She sat in the middle, cross-legged. She didn't take up much room. She didn't know what to do for the three plus hours they would be spending in the car, but luckily Hardison had his laptop and he invited her to watch a movie with him. It was about some spaceship or something, and she wasn't really paying attention. Eliot could tell she wasn't watching the movie; she was thinking of what to say to Susan.

They stopped at Susan and Jason's house. It was small- 2 stories- but was quaint. At least Sophie thought it was. It looked like it was in decent shape. There were flowers along the side of the house and Parker smiled- Susan always did like that kind of stuff. She was like Sophie in a lot of ways.

As soon as they got to the door, Parker hid behind Eliot. Everyone could tell she was really nervous. "Don't worry," said Hardison, "what are the chances she'll actually recognize you? It's been like 15, 20 years."

She answered immediately and sighed with relief. "Thank you so much for coming. Really, we didn't know what we were going to do."

Nate and Sophie smiled politely and made boring small talk. Susan invited them in. Parker awkwardly revolved around Eliot as not to be in her direct eyesight. Susan frowned in thought (Parker remembered that she would always do that even as a kid) but shrugged it off.

They moved to the living room where Nate, Sophie, and Hardison sat down. Eliot stood beside them (there were enough chairs, he just felt like standing) and Parker was looking at the many pictures on the wall. She saw pictures of Jason and presumably his girlfriend, Susan and her husband in all stages of their relationship, Susan and Jason, and one picture that left her speechless. It was dirty and old, but the only thing proving they knew each other. It was a picture of Susan and Parker in their gymnastics outfits (they took it at the school they went to) hugging each other. They both had bruises covering most of their bodies and Susan had visible stitches on her head, but it was them and they were laughing happily.

Her eyes teared up and she quickly wiped them away; Parker never cried. Never. She hesitantly touched the picture lightly. This is when Susan came in juggling three cups of coffee. She dropped them all on the ground as soon as she saw the scene.

"Oh, my god. It's you. It's really you."


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh my god. It's you. It's really you."

Parker turned to face her for the first time. She noticed the scar on the upper left side of her forehead and the other one slightly above her chin on the right side. She noticed her dark brown eyes. She looked the same as she did 15 years before.

The next thing Parker realized was Susan hugging her tightly. She was crying, and tears came into Parker's eyes as well. She missed her older sister so much.

"I knew you didn't die, you couldn't have. I-I just never thought I would see you again," Susan was sobbing. Parker patted her back awkwardly. She never was good in these situations, but then again who was?

Meanwhile, Hardison was whispering to the other team members. "Ok I bet none of y'all expected _that _to happen." They all nodded, staring at the scene in front of them. Sophie was on the verge of tears, taking mental notes for her next performance coming up. Eliot was smiling slightly, happy for Parker. Nate and Hardison were staring intensely, like some would while watching a car wreck.

Susan eventually snapped out of it, smiling in apology to the spectators. "Sorry," she said. Her hand never let go of Parker's. "It's just so much to take in."

"Wait, you faked your own death?" Hardison asked, finally putting the pieces together.

"No," Parker said. She was reluctant to tell the rest of the story, but she did. "I blew up our house."

Nate, Sophie, Eliot, and Hardison had no idea what to say to that.

_It was a particularly good day for stealing at the park. The elementary school was out for a teacher's conference, so plenty of people were there. This included doting moms with huge bags and strollers full of food and money. Parker had stolen 8 wallets, along with other things. Her pockets were bulging so she decided to bring all of her money home and come back._

_She heard Chris and Michele yelling inside, and sighed. She opened the door to find him slapping her. He turns to the sound of the creaking door and glares at Parker. "Where the hell have you been?" he yells angrily. He then looks at her pockets. "What's that?" he grabs the wallets and throws them to the floor, disgusted. "What have I told you about stealing?"_

_He took Bunny out of her arms. "You're a disgrace to this family. You don't steal. So you don't get Bunny back until you do what I say. Or," he smirked "become a better thief."_

_A few hours locked in her room went by as Parker thought about his advice. She wanted Bunny. She was so sick of Chris making all the rules. He was a bully and she wanted him to pay. _

_She learned from Jason a while back how to make a bomb. True, it was a small bomb, but how different could it be? She took all of Chris' alcohol, papers, and anything flammable from his room and placed it in the living room. (She didn't realize that Chris and Michele were outside talking to their alcoholic neighbors). She got a lighter._

_And, well, you know the rest._

Nate coughed awkwardly to relieve the tension, but it didn't work. "So," he said. "Uh, where were we?"

"Oh, um I was going to tell you about how Richard conned us out of our money," Susan said, as if nothing were wrong with that sentence. She motioned for them to follow her. "We added two new rooms to the house and fixed up the others. We knew it would be expensive, but we just needed a good place to live. It would be nice for a change."

There was a room completely covered in mats. It was a gym, filled with weights, parallel bars, balance beams, and everything else related to gymnastics. Parker looked around in awe. "I'm a gymnastics instructor now," she explained "along with other little things. Remember these?" she asked, pointing to about 20 gold medals on the wall.

The team looked confused, so she explained. "We used to go to this gym down the street. At first they didn't let us in but then they saw how good we were- Parker was always better, though."

Parker touched her gold medals. Most were burnt in some way but the writing was still legible. Eliot looked to see if her full name was on any but they all said PARKER.

They took a tour of the house and with every room, Parker got more agitated. She wanted to leave. This job was no different from the rest- why did they have to treat it differently? Eliot sensed how uptight she was getting and put his arm around her shoulder, massaging her back. Hardison saw and gave him the evil-eye, but Eliot just stuck out his tongue. Nate and Susan's talk about the job were interrupted by a knock at the door. Jason.


	5. Chapter 5

**Back from the dead, here's another chapter featuring Jason! I just figured that I owed it to the people who reviewed, which are A LOT of people. So, enjoy!**

"Honey, I'm home," Jason called jokingly as he entered the house. He was carrying a large amount of bags and they seemed fairly heavy. The team helped him with the bags. Parker took the last two, and Jason nodded his thanks to them all. He then got a good look at Parker. He cocked his head in confusion (which reminded the team so much of Parker) and was about to ask her a question when Susan interrupted.

"Parker's back!" She exclaimed. This was obviously the greatest news they had received in a while.

He looked at her for another moment, Parker fidgeting awkwardly under his stare. His eyes grew wide and he smiled a huge smile. Parker cheered up and they embraced each other in a hug.

"Oh my god oh my god!" He laughed. He spun her around. "I knew it! As soon as I saw you I could tell! I knew you were alive. I've been meaning to tell you this for, like, 17 years: nice work on that bomb! I taught you everything I know."

He was ecstatic, so excited to have her back. In a way, Parker was glad to be back. She didn't like how the team was watching her every move and trying to piece together her past, but she liked having them all there.

"_Nice work on the bomb?" _Hardison whispered to Eliot, or anyone who was listening. "Man, what _happened_ in this family?"

Eliot just shrugged. He didn't need to know, and he didn't want to. They all had a past and it was unfair that Parker didn't have a choice in sharing hers.

"Thanks, Jason," said Parker. "I've missed you both. A lot."

"I knew you weren't dead," said Jason. "I was waiting. I didn't give up, and I didn't let Susan." Parker kept her head down, not making eye contact with anyone. What seemed like an eternity passed before he asked the question. "Why- why didn't you find us earlier?"

She didn't know how to answer. "I couldn't. Not after what I did."

Nate, Sophie, Hardison, and Eliot thought that she meant exploding their old house. It wasn't.

Susan pulled her close. "It wasn't your fault. We all know. You broke the rule: don't ever listen to Chris. About anything. Look where he is now. What happened to Michael," her eyes teared up "wasn't your fault. Hell, it wasn't anyone's fault."

"We've all been down that hill before- literally. And we've all let him ride down it, too," said Jason. "I'm surprised you held out until then; I let him ride any bike I stole down that hill." They all smiled in memory of their little brother.

"Thanks," Parker said quietly. "It feels… better not to blame myself any more. Better, but not best."

Jason nodded his head in agreement. "Let's not talk about that now- I'm thinking your… team has been entertained enough by this awkwardness. Thanks again for all coming. Parker, I would've never expected you to turn good," he joked.

She laughed. "Technically, we're good. Same old stealing stuff, though."

"_That's _the Parker I know."

"And what about you?"

"You're gonna be disappointed, but I gave it up. Blame Susan for that." Susan nodded approvingly. When she had her back turned, he shook his head _'_no' and flashed a smile.

Nate gave him a questioning glance and he shrugged. "Minor, don't worry," he whispered.


End file.
